Downlight and hinge assembly therefor



May 1, 1956 R RENAUD ET AL l 2,744,191

DOWNLIGHT AND HINGE ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed May 1l, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheetl THE/H ATTORNEYS May l,

Filed May l1, 1953 R. J. RENAUD ETAL DOWNLIGHT AND HINGE ASSEMBLYTHEREFOR 5 Sheets-Shea t 2 THE/f? ATTORNEYS May 1, 1956 R J, RENAUD ETALDOWNLIGHT AND HINGE ASSEMBLY THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 11,1953 s .d /Wy s E mw .N Tnkn N60 0 i fw l mmwfm n H 0./ Rwr BY M in theedge of the frame adjacent the spring catch 22 and pulls downwardly topull the spring catch 22 over the ball stud 23. This throws -all of theweight of the lens frame and lens onto the springs 12 and 13 so that, asshown in Figure 7, the frame drops downwardly a short distance from theplaster 7 and from the flange Sa. The frame then pivots on the pivotpins 16 as shown in Figure 8. When the frame turns on the pins 16, webs25 extending inwardly from the edge of the frame and having a curved topbearing surface 25a strike the -outer edge of the llange a. As the framecontinues to turn on the pivot pins 16, the bearing surfaces a of thewebs 25 ride up over the edge of the tlange 5a and thereby force theframe downwardly. The frame is turned until it is substantially verticalas shown in Figure 9, in which position it is held by the springs 12 and13 with the extreme outer edge of the frame pressing against the ange5a. The edge of the frame which rides up over the flange 5a isreinforced by increasing its thickness as shown at 26 in Figure 3.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that we have invented a recesseddownlight having a lens frame which is ush with the plaster of theceiling in which it is recessed. The frame has a smooth unbrokenappearance with no hinges, catches or thumb screws showing, and it canbe pivoted away from the housing to provide access to the housing simplyby pulling on one edge of the frame. The hinge assembly which we haveinvented, while wholly effective, is of simple construction and iseasily manu factured.

While we have described certain present preferred embodiments of ourinventions, it is to be understood that they may be otherwise embodiedwithin the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A downlight comprising fa housing having an open end, a lens frame atthe open end of the housing, two leaf springs spaced from each other andextending generally parallel to each other and each secured at one endto said housing adjacent the bottom of the housing when the downlight isinstalled for use, the other ends of said springs extending in the samedirection from the fixed ends and beneath and pivotally engagingportions of the lens frame spaced inwardly from an edge of the frame.

2. A downlight comprising a housing having an open end, said housinghaving a flange extending outwardly from the housing at said open end, alens frame adapted to cover said flange, two leaf springs spaced fromeach other and each secured at one end to the housing, the other ends ofsaid springs extending in the same direction from the fixed ends andbeneath and pivotally engaging portions of said frame adjacent to andspaced inwardly from an edge of the frame and outside the open end ofthe housing, the pivot points of the frame being so spaced from the edgeof the frame that when the frame -is turned to open the rdownlight theedge of the frame engages and rides over the flange on the housing.

3. A downlight comprising a housing having an open end, said housinghaving a flange extending outwardly from the housing at said open end, alens frame adapted to cover said ange, two leaf springs spaced from andextending parallel to each other and secured at one of their ends to theflange and having hooks at their other ends engaging pivot pins in theframe, said hooks extending from the fixed ends in the same direction,said springs resiliently pressing the frame towards the housing, saidpins being positioned on the frame between an edge of the frame and theopen end of the housing, bearing surfaces on -the frame extendinginwardly from the edge of the frame adjacent the pins, said bearingsurfaces contacting and riding over the portion of the flange adjacentthe pivot pins when .the frame is pivoted about the end of the spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS534,012 Saunders Feb. 12, 1895 1,424,431 Agee Aug. 1,1922 1,478,473Herron Dec. 25, 1923 1,483,367 Matthes Feb. 12,1924 1,716,038 FerrisJune 4, 1929 2,327,552 Poehling Aug. 24,1943 2,434,108 Handler Jan.6,1948 2,639,368 Pryne May 19, 1953 2,684,498 Zingone July 27, 1954

